This Is Just To Say

by

First published in 1934, "This Is Just To Say" reads like a note left on a refrigerator — an apology for eating plums that were probably being saved. Its casual, conversational tone and absence of traditional poetic devices make it one of the most distinctive poems of the twentieth century. The poem has inspired countless parodies and imitations, but its delicate balance of guilt and pleasure remains inimitable. Whether it is "really a poem" has been debated for decades, which is part of its enduring charm.
Georges Jeannin, Still Life with Plums and Peaches
Georges Jeannin, Still Life with Plums and Peaches
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold